1 June 2007

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A Step-by-Step Guide to the GI Database on www.glycemicindex.comUse the database to find the GI value of your favourite carbohydrate foods that have been tested over the past 25 years from all around the world. You can also check the glycemic load (GL) and grams of carbohydrate per serve. If you want to dig a little deeper, you can see where and when the food was tested and whether the test subjects were healthy or had diabetes. Although our database is the most comprehensive GI database resource on the web, we don’t have the GI values of every carbohydrate food tested. Sometimes food companies prefer not to publish the GI of their products, and sometimes they don’t want their foods tested at all.

Step 2To search for ‘beans’ for example, insert ‘beans’ in the ‘Name of the Food’ box and click search.

Step 3To refine your search, use the less than () symbols, to tell the database to show you only foods containing beans with a GI less than 55 and a GL greater than 20. Use the drop-down menu on the far right, to tell the database to sort the results by the GI and in ascending order.

Step 4Now click on the actual food name (the text will change colour) and the following page appears.

The GI of the kidney beans was calculated using glucose as the standard. The serve (in grams) refers to the nominal serving size. This value is then used to calculate the GL value for each product. For example:

Red Kidney Beans Serve (g): 150 gCHO/serve (g): 60.3GI: 51GL = 31

In this case the test period was the standard 2 hours where a total of 9 finger-prick blood samples were taken in 10 subjects over that period (this includes 3 fasting samples). The subjects were ‘normal’ which means they were healthy volunteers. In some tests, ‘Type 2’ refers to testing in people with type 2 diabetes. Finally, the reference shows where the food was tested and in which journal the results were published if applicable.

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comments:

Thank you for the service you do with this website! I would like to know if your GI database is available as a comprehensive list or if it can be downloaded to be printed as a list. I am looking for a GI list to carry with me. I am an American recently diagnosed with insulin-resistant diabetes. My doctor gave me a list of lo- medium- & hi-GI foods, but it is over 10 years old. Thank you for your help!

Hi there Alabama Kate. Thanks for your kind words. The database isn't downloadable. But you can buy a handy pocket sized Shopper's Guide to GI Values updated annually and published by Marlowe & Company ($6.95) and available from all major bookstores and of course Amazon.

G'day, i am trying (unsucessfully) to download previous issues of the GI newsletter but i don't know how to do so in pdf format - unlike the current issue there is no pdf link. Would you tell me how to do this?regards,R G Pascoe